EP1739266A2 - Control system for a vehicle window lifter - Google Patents

Abstract

A control device (110), including two different types of sensors for detecting adjustment positions of two window regulators, is in electrical communication with the drive motors (100,200) of both window regulators. One sensor type is a resonance sensor (115), while the other sensor type is a shunt resistor (116). Both sensors are mounted on a common printed circuit board (PCB) (119).

Description

The invention relates to a control system for windows of a motor vehicle.

Power windows in motor vehicles serve to adjust a window pane within a vehicle body, within a door, within a tailgate or within a sliding door in position. For example, to obtain a desired velocity profile, a motor current of a drive of the window regulator is controlled by a power driver, for example a power semiconductor. Furthermore, it is desirable to sense the position of the window pane in order to control the adjustment movement and / or a collision protection as a function of the sensed position.

An example of a power window with a drive is in the German patent application DE 43 02 143 A1 described. In this window, the drive motor has a rotor which can be moved axially. When switching off the drive current for the drive motor, the rotor is brought into a locking position, whereby the drive motor and thus the drive is disabled altogether.

The DE 102 53 643 A1 is based on the idea to prevent multiple windows at the same time completely close their associated window. Instead, it is only the window that closes the window first, allows to close the window until the window motor blocked and the blocking current flows. All other power window motors are switched off in good time so that the window pane does not reach its fully closed position, but only an approximately closed position. Once a windowpane in this end area occurs, a blocking signal is sent by a control unit of the corresponding window, which is transmitted via a bus system to all other control devices of the windows.

From the US Pat. No. 6,253,135 B1 a method for controlling a plurality of windows of a motor vehicle is known. DE 102 08 323 A1 relates to a motorized window system for a vehicle. The power window system includes a window movable between an open and a closed position. The power window system also includes an engine coupled to the window, the motor selectively causing the movement of the window. The power window system also includes at least one switch and a communications bus coupled to the engine. The power window system further includes a processor coupled to at least the switch or the communication bus and configured to selectively send at least one close or open signal to at least one of the switch and the communication bus. The power window system also includes a sensor that is coupled to the processor and detects conditions that rely on automatic window closure.

The invention is based on the object of specifying a control system which is particularly suitable for window regulators of a motor vehicle and in particular adapted as simply as possible adapted to specifications of the automotive industry.

This object is achieved by a control system with the features of claim 1 or with the features of claim 2. Advantageous developments are the subject of dependent claims.

Accordingly, a control system for a first window regulator for adjusting a first window pane of a motor vehicle and for a second window regulator for adjusting a second window pane of the motor vehicle is provided. The control system has a first drive for adjustment the first window on. The drive preferably has a mechanically or electrically commutated electric motor and advantageously a transmission that is operatively connected to the mechanism of the window regulator to adjust the window pane by means of electromotive force between an open position and a closed position.

In addition, the control system has a second drive, which also enables the adjustment of the second window pane by means of electromotive force. Furthermore, the control system has a control device which is electrically connected to the current supply both with the first drive and with the second drive. The control device is preferably an electrical circuit constructed of a plurality of components and advantageously having power drivers, such as a relay, for driving drive currents.

The control device has a first sensor for determining a first adjustment position of the first window lifter and a second sensor for determining a second adjustment position of the second window lifter. Advantageously, the sensing of the adjustment position is indirect, so that not the position of the window pane but a movement of an element coupled to the adjustment movement of the window pane, in particular a rotational movement of a shaft or of an electric motor, is sensed. The two sensors preferably sense a rotational movement dependent on a movement of the respective drive.

The first sensor and the second sensor are based on different physical principles of action. A sensor for determining the adjustment position can be based, for example, on an optical, capacitive, magnetic, resistive or contactive action principle.

Furthermore, the object of the invention is achieved by a control system that is used to control a first adjusting device for adjusting a first adjustable part of a motor vehicle with a first drive and for a second adjusting device for adjusting a second adjustable part of the motor vehicle is set up with a second drive. The first adjustable part is for example a motor vehicle window pane, while the second adjustable part is for example a sun blind or a sliding door. Advantageously, the sunblind or the motor vehicle window pane is preferably arranged in the same motor vehicle door in the sliding door of the motor vehicle.

The control system has a control device. The control device is electrically connected to the current supply both with the first drive and with the second drive. The control device has a first sensor for detecting a first collision between the first adjustable part and a clamped object and / or for determining an adjustment position of the first adjustable part and a second sensor for detecting a second collision between the first adjustable part and a clamped object and / or for determining an adjustment position of the second adjustable part. The first sensor and the second sensor are based on different physical principles of action.

Preferably, the first sensor for sensing a drive movement of the first drive and the second sensor for sensing a drive movement of the second drive are formed. The control device is advantageously for indirect detection of a collision, formed by a determination on the drive retroactive pinching forces, for example, sensed by a collision deceleration of the respective drive and evaluated.

To integrate electronics of the control device as far as possible is provided in an advantageous embodiment variant of the invention that the first sensor and the second sensor are arranged on a single circuit carrier, in particular on a single circuit board of the control device. A circuit carrier allows attachment of the sensors and others Components and an electrical connection by, for example, metallic conductor tracks made of copper. As an alternative to a dimensionally stable or flexible printed circuit board (board), for example made of plastic, resins or ceramics, a circuit carrier in the form of a stamped grid coated with insulating plastic can also be used.

According to a preferred embodiment, it is provided that the first sensor detects a rotational movement of the first drive. For this purpose, a rotatable drive element, for example a shaft of an electric motor has an encoder, for example an optical reflector. By contrast, the second sensor detects a signal modulated onto a drive current and / or to a drive voltage of the second drive. The modulation is preferably carried out by the rotational movement of the electric motor of the second drive, advantageously by its mechanical commutation. The second sensor is designed for demodulation by this advantageously has a resistor (shunt) or a coil.

It is preferably provided in one embodiment that the first sensor based on a magnetic principle of action and the second sensor based on an electrically resistive action principle. Advantageously, the first sensor is a Hall sensor, which is operatively connected to a magnet moved by a drive movement of the first drive in order to sense the drive movement. The second sensor is advantageously a resistor through which a motor current of the second drive flows. Such a resistor is called a shunt resistor. In this case, a drive remote arrangement of the shunt resistor is possible, so that the drive movement of the second drive can be done by measuring the voltage dropping at the shunt resistor voltage from the second drive in the control device itself.

The control device with the first drive in a first motor vehicle door and the second drive outside the first motor vehicle door are preferably arranged. For example, the second drive in a body area or in a second motor vehicle door arranged. In an advantageous embodiment variant, the control device is formed together with the first drive as a structural unit, which is pretestable and can be installed in an assembly step.

In a preferred embodiment, the control device has a first power driver for controlling a first drive current of the first drive and a second power driver for controlling a second drive current of the second drive. A power driver is, for example, a relay or a power semiconductor, such as a field effect transistor.

Preferably, the control device has a computing unit which is connected to the first sensor and the second sensor. The arithmetic unit is advantageously a microcontroller or a user-specific circuit (ASIC). Advantageously, at least parts of the arithmetic unit with the power drivers are integrated on a semiconductor chip as a so-called "smart-power" unit. Alternatively or in combination, at least one of the two sensors is advantageously integrated with the arithmetic unit in a component housing.

In a preferred development it is provided that the arithmetic unit for detecting a first collision of the first window pane with an object or body part within a first adjustment path of the first window regulator in response to sensor signals of the first sensor and for detecting a second collision of the second window pane with an object or Body part is set up within a second adjustment path of the second window in response to sensor signals of the second sensor. The signals of the first sensor and the second sensor are evaluated to determine a collision.

If both drives are moved at the same time, the arithmetic unit is also designed for the parallel evaluation of both sensor signals, so that in case of a collision at least one of the two drives is stopped and optionally reversed is energized in the opposite direction. Preferably, the arithmetic unit is therefore configured to control a simultaneous adjustment of the first drive and the second drive. The measured signals of the two sensors are advantageously read into the arithmetic unit and assigned to the respective adjustment movement.

In one embodiment variant, the control device is integrated in a housing, in particular in a transmission housing of the first drive or in an electronics housing fastened to an opening region of the transmission housing. In this case, the control device has an electrical connection for the second drive. The electrical connection is for example a plug for a wiring harness of a motor vehicle, which includes two electrical cables to the second drive.

According to a development, the control device is connected to a further electrical device of the motor vehicle via a bus, in particular a CAN bus or a LIN bus. For example, this further electrical device is a central control unit of the motor vehicle. Preferably, however, this further electrical device is a further control device, which is designed to energize a third window lift drive and advantageously also a fourth window lift drive.

In the following the invention will be explained in more detail in exemplary embodiments with reference to drawings.

Fig. 1

ein Kraftfahrzeug mit zwei in Explosionszeichnung dargestellten Fensterhebern,

Fig. 2

ein Kraftfahrzeug mit vier in Explosionszeichnung dargestellten Fensterhebern, und

Fig. 3

einen ersten Antrieb und einen zweiten Antrieb für einen Fensterheber.

Show

Fig. 1

a motor vehicle with two window regulators shown in exploded view,

Fig. 2

a motor vehicle with four windows shown in exploded view, and

Fig. 3

a first drive and a second drive for a window regulator.

In Fig. 1, a first embodiment is shown. In this embodiment, a motor vehicle 10 has only one driver's door 11 and one passenger's door 12. This so-called two-door, however, has no rear swing doors. The rear windows are either immobile or manually adjustable by a manual power window, not shown, for example by means of a crank.

The windows of the front doors 11 and 12, however, are mechanically coupled to a respective window lifter 140 and 240, respectively. The window regulator mechanism is in turn mechanically coupled to a drive 100 or 200. By means of the drive 100, 200, the respective window can therefore be adjusted with electromotive force between an open and a closed position and in any intermediate position.

The drive 100, 200 has for this purpose an electric motor 120, 220 and a transmission housing 130, 230 with a transmission. For controlling a first drive current both by the first drive motor 120 and for controlling a second drive current through the second drive motor, a control device 110 is provided. The control device has electronic components for control. In this case, the control device is conductively connected to a power connection of the first electric motor 120 and via an at least two-wire cable 1200 to a power connection of the second electric motor 220.

The advantages are achieved that depending on the installation location of the respective window lift motor different sensor solution can be used optimized. at motor-integrated door control units, the principle of Hall sensors is particularly simple and therefore cost. On the other hand, if the installation location of the window lift motor is removed with respect to the door control unit, a modulation of a signal to the motor current is more favorable since no additional lines need to be laid for a sensor. The use of different operating principles of the sensors enables a simple and thus cost-effective integration of different sensors in a housing. Furthermore, the use of sensors based on different principles of action offers the further advantage that, through this combined use of different sensors, the sensors for optimizing the processor load can be selected. For example, due to the smaller number of computation steps, a Hall sensor requires a lower processor load than for the evaluation of current ripples of a remotely located drive. Consequently, in addition to evaluating the current ripples, the same processor can at the same time evaluate the Hall signal edges of a Hall sensor, which are easier to evaluate, so that no oversized microcontroller must be used.

Fig. 2 shows a second embodiment. In this embodiment of FIG. 2, the motor vehicle 10 in addition to the driver's door 11 and the passenger door 12 has two rear swing doors 21 and 22. Each door 11, 12, 21, 22 has a window lifter 140, 240, 140 'and 240'. In the driver's door 11, a control device 110 is arranged, which also controls the rear door 21 on the driver's side via an at least two-wire cable 1200. Similarly, in the passenger door, a further control device 110 'is arranged, which also controls the rear door 22 on the passenger side via an at least two-core cable 1200'.

The control device 110 and the further control device 110 'are operatively connected to each other via a CAN bus connection 1100 of the motor vehicle 10. The control device 110 preferably has an operating device, wherein with at least one operating element also a (remote) adjustment of a window pane of the passenger side is possible.

The control device 110 is coupled to the drive 100 via an electronic engine interface 113. This electronic motor interface 113 is designed to transmit a sensor signal and to transmit the motor current between the control device 110 and the drive 100. For this purpose, the interface 113 has four or more electrical and / or magnetic lines. The same applies to the electronics-motor interface 113 'between the further control device 110' and the further drive 100 '.

As an alternative to an electronic motor interface (113) by means of cables, an integrative embodiment is shown schematically in FIG. In the gear housing 130 of the first drive 100, a rectangular board 119 of the control device 110 is inserted and locked. The control device 110 therefore has a plug connection 1211 integrated in the gear housing 130, by means of which the second drive 200 is electrically connected to the control device 110 via a cable 1200 and via a further plug 1222 in the second gear housing 230 of the second drive 200.

For energizing the first electric motor 120 119 two brush holder, each with a held brush 121 are soldered on the board. The brushes act to energize it with a commutator 123 of the electric motor 120 together. The brushes 121 are connected via electrical copper conductors of the board 119 to a relay 117. The relay 117 is connected to the controller with a microcontroller 114 and controlled by this. Furthermore, a further power switch in the form of a power field effect transistor 118 is provided on the circuit board, which is also connected to the microcontroller 114 for controlling the drive current of the second drive 200.

Furthermore, a first sensor 115 and a second sensor 116 are soldered on the circuit board 119 of the control device 110 and connected to the microcontroller 114 for evaluation of the sensor signals. The first sensor 115 is operatively connected to the first drive 100 to sense a first adjustment position of the first window lifter 140. For this purpose, on a motor shaft 124 of the first electric motor 120 a ring magnet 112 attached, which has a number of magnetic poles, which cause by a rotational movement of the motor shaft 124 a polarity-changing magnetic field in the designed as a Hall sensor 115 first sensor. The physical working principle of this first sensor 115 is therefore the magnetism.

By means of the second sensor 116, the adjustment position of the, connected to the second drive 200, second window pane is to be determined. The second sensor 116 is a measuring resistor 116 with a value of a few milli-ohms. The measuring resistor 116 is therefore based on an electrically resistive active principle as the physical operating principle. The motor current through the second drive 200 therefore flows via the measuring resistor 116, via the power field effect transistor 118 as a power driver and an electrical connection 1211, 1200 and 1222 to the motor 220. The electrical connection 1211, 1200 and 1222 can be part of a more complex, in the Figures not shown wiring harness of the motor vehicle 10 be.

In order to determine an adjustment position of the window pane driven by the second drive 200, a method for determining the rotation speed and / or the rotation angle in the case of mechanically commutated direct current motors from the time characteristic of the ripple of the motor current measured with the second sensor 116 is used , The determination is complemented and controlled by a parallel engine state model, which is based on the electromechanical engine equations. From the motor current and the motor voltage, a probable value of the current speed is extrapolated and a permissible setpoint value range of the next commutation is determined. If no commutation time can be determined in the set value range, the extrapolated value is used. Otherwise, the current speed is determined exactly from the commutation time detected in the desired value range. The engine-specific and load-dependent variable required for the engine condition model can be fixed or be adapted to the current speed after the detection of Kommutierungsvorgängen.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

10

motor vehicle

11, 12, 21, 22

Motor vehicle door

100, 100 ', 200, 200'

Drive, window lift drive

110, 110 '

Control device, electronics

112

ring magnet

113, 113 '

Electronic engine interface

114, μC

Microcontroller, ASIC, arithmetic unit

115

Hall sensor

116, R

Measuring resistor, shunt resistor

117, RL

Power driver, relays

118, L-HL

Power driver, power transistor, MOSFET bridge

119

Circuit carrier, circuit board, circuit board

120, 120 ', 220, 220'

Drive motor, electric motor

121

brush

123

commutator

124

motor shaft

130, 230, 130 ', 230'

gearbox

140, 240, 140 ', 240'

power windows

1100

Bus, CAN bus, LIN bus

1200, 1200 '

electric wire

1211, 1222

electrical connection, plug connection

Claims (13)

Control system for a first window lifter (140, 140 ') for adjusting a first window pane of a motor vehicle with a first drive (100, 100') and for a second window lifter (240, 240 ') for adjusting a second window pane of the motor vehicle with a second drive (200, 200 '), with a control device (110, 110'), - wherein the control device (110, 110 ') for energizing both the first drive (100, 100') and with the second drive (200, 200 ') is electrically connected, - wherein the control device (110, 110 ') has a first sensor (115) for determining a first adjustment position of the first window lifter (140, 140') and a second sensor (116) for determining a second adjustment position of the second window lifter (240, 240 '). ) having, - Wherein the first sensor (115) and the second sensor (116) based on different physical principles of action. Control system for a first adjusting device (140, 140 ') for adjusting a first adjustable part of a motor vehicle with a first drive (100, 100') and for a second adjusting device (240, 240 ') for adjusting a second adjustable part of the motor vehicle with a second drive (200, 200 '), with a control device (110, 110'), - wherein the control device (110, 110 ') for energizing both the first drive (100, 100') and with the second drive (200, 200 ') is electrically connected, - wherein the control device (110, 110 ') has a first sensor (115) for detecting a first collision of the first adjustable part (140, 140') and a second sensor (116) for detecting a second collision of the second adjustable part (240, 240 '), - Wherein the first sensor (115) and the second sensor (116) based on different physical principles of action. Control system according to at least one of Claims 1 or 2, in which the first sensor (115) and the second sensor (116) are arranged on a single circuit carrier, in particular on a single circuit board (119) of the control device (110). Control system according to one of the preceding claims, in which the first sensor (115) rotates the first drive (100, 100 ') and the second sensor (116) detects a drive current and / or a drive voltage of the second drive (200, 200'). ) capture modulated signal. Control system according to one of the preceding claims, in which the first sensor (115) is based on a magnetic action principle and the second sensor (116) is based on an electrically resistive action principle. Control system according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the control device (110) with the first drive (100) as a structural unit in a first motor vehicle door (11) and the second controlled by the control device (110) drive (200) from the control device (110). away outside the first motor vehicle door (11), in particular in a second motor vehicle door (21, 12) are arranged. A control system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the control device (110, 110 ') comprises a first power driver (117) for controlling a first drive current of the first drive (100, 100') and a second power driver (118) for controlling a second drive current of the first drive current second drive (200, 200 '). Control system according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the control device (110) has a computing unit (114), in particular a microcontroller, which is connected to the first sensor (115) and the second sensor (116) and in particular for the simultaneous evaluation of the first Sensor (115) and the second sensor (116) is arranged. Control system according to Claim 8, in which the arithmetic unit (114) - For detecting a first collision of the first window pane with an object or body part within a first adjustment path of the first window lifter (140, 140 ') in response to a sensor signal of the first sensor (115) and for detecting a second collision of the second window pane with an object or body part within a second adjustment path of the second window lifter (240, 240 ') in response to a sensor signal of the second sensor (116). is set up. Control system according to Claim 9, in which the arithmetic unit (114) is designed to control a simultaneous adjustment, in particular an automatic adjustment, of the first drive (100, 100 ') and the second drive (200, 200'). Control system according to one of the preceding claims, in which the control device (110) is integrated in a housing (130) of the first drive (100) and in which the control device (110) has an electrical connection (1211) for the second drive (200) , Control system according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the control device is arranged in a separate housing in a door of the motor vehicle and in which the control device has an electrical connection for the first drive (100) and for the second drive (200). Control system according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the control device (110) via a bus (1100) with another electrical device of the motor vehicle, in particular with a further control device (110 ') for energizing a window regulator drive (100') is connected.

Images